Surgical stapler with angled feeder belts

ABSTRACT

An exemplary surgical stapler may include a staple holder, including an upper surface with two substantially-planar angled surfaces positioned lateral to and angled relative to each other. The staple holder may include staple channels within it, and each staple channel may open to a corresponding angled surface. The stapler may also include at least one feeder belt extending into the staple holder and staples frangibly affixed to the feeder belt. Generally, at least one staple is held within a corresponding staple channel of the staple holder.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/309,916 (attorney docket no. 342), filed Dec. 2, 2011, which, inturn, is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/781,746(attorney docket no. 303), filed May 17, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.8,070,034, issued Dec. 6, 2011, which, in turn, claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/182,528 (attorney docket no. 278),filed May 29, 2009, each and every one of which is herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to surgical staplers and stapling.

BACKGROUND

Surgical staplers for use in minimally invasive surgery may be designedto be generally cylindrical in shape in order to fit through acorresponding trocar port placed in a patient, where that trocar porthas a generally circular orifice defined therethrough. Such a surgicalstapler typically includes a staple holder and an anvil pivotallyconnected to the staple holder. Referring to FIG. 1, a staple holder 2viewed in cross-section may be generally shaped as a segment of a circledefined by a chord, which is the upper surface 4 of the staple holder 2through which staples are ejected. Staples are held in individual baysor channels 6 within the staple holder 2. The bays or channels 6 areoriented perpendicular to the upper surface 4 of the staple holder 2.Consequently, the bays or channels 6 are oriented parallel to oneanother. Similarly, a knife slot 8 is typically defined in the stapleholder 2, where that knife slot 8 is also oriented perpendicular to theupper surface 4 of the staple holder 2. The perpendicularity of the baysor channels 6 to the upper surface 4 limits the size of staples that canbe deployed from the staple holder 2, because as the bays or channels 6increase in size, they must move inward laterally such that they canstill fit inside the staple holder 2. Further, by moving the bays orchannels 6 laterally inward, space within the staple holder 2 laterallyoutward from those bays or channels 6 is wasted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-section end view of a prior art staple holder.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section end view of an exemplary staple holder withangled staple bays.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section end view of another exemplary staple holderwith angled staple bays.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary feeder belt with staplesfrangibly affixed thereto.

The use of the same reference symbols in different figures indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 2, a staple holder 2 may have an upper surface 4 thatincludes two angled surfaces 10. Each angled surface 10 is positionedlateral to the other. Each angled surface 10 may lie substantially in adifferent plane than the other, such that the two planes intersect. Theupper surface 4 also may include a plateau surface 12 that connects thetwo angled surfaces 10. The angled surfaces 10 each may form an anglewith the plateau surface 12. Alternately, the plateau surface 12 may beomitted, and the two angled surfaces 10 may directly intersect oneanother. At least one staple bay or channel 6 may be positioned relativeto a corresponding angled surface 10 such that the upper end of that bayor channel 6 opens to that angled surface 10. Such a staple bay orchannel 6 may be oriented substantially perpendicular to the angledsurface 10, or may be oriented differently relative to the correspondingangled surface 10. Optionally, at least one staple bay or channel 6 maybe oriented differently than at least one other staple bay or channel 6;the staple bays or channels 6 need not all have the same orientationrelative to the angled surfaces 10 or each other. This angledorientation allows deeper staple bays or channels 6 to be defined in thestaple holder 2 than in a staple holder 2 of the prior art of the samediameter. Further, the use of angled surfaces 10 increases the surfacearea of the upper surface 4 of the staple holder 2 as compared to theplanar upper surface 4 of the prior art staple holder 2. In addition, byproviding one or more bays or channels 6 in an angled configuration,those bays or channels 6 may be placed within the staple holder 2 insuch a way that they can eject staples at a lateral distance furtherfrom the longitudinal center line of the staple holder 2 than the stapleholders 2 of the prior art. Alternately, the staple holder 2 may have asubstantially planar upper surface 4 such as shown in FIG. 1, and one ormore staple bays or channels 6 may be oriented at an angle relative tothat upper surface 4. At least one of the staple bays or channels 6 mayform substantially a V-shape with regard to at least one other staplebay or channel 6 as viewed from the end. Optionally, a knife slot 8 maybe defined in the staple holder 2, and may be located between staplebays or channels 6 as seen from the end.

Referring also to FIG. 3, where staple bays 6 are used, the staple bays6 may overlap one another as viewed from the end. Longitudinally, thosestaple bays 6 may be staggered to prevent interference between them. Byoverlapping two or more staple bays 6, even more efficiency may beobtained in the internal layout of the staple holder 2. In such aconfiguration, the knife slot 8 may be omitted, or if utilized, may bepositioned above the staple bays 6 to prevent interference.

Referring also to FIG. 4, any suitable staples, clips, or fasteners 22may be ejected from the bays or channels 6. As one example, standardU-shaped or B-shaped staples or clips may be used. As another example,at least one feeder belt 20 with staples 22 fixed to and frangiblyseparable therefrom may be utilized; such a feeder belt 20 may be asdescribed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0065552,published on Mar. 12, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,026, issued on Aug.2, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety. One or more rows 24 of staples 22 may be connected to thefeeder belt 20, and each row 24 of staples 22 may be oriented generallylongitudinally. Where a staple bay or channel 6 is orientedsubstantially perpendicular to the angled surface 10, as describedabove, the staples 22 are necessarily oriented substantiallyperpendicular to the angled surface 10. Where the staples 22 areoriented substantially perpendicular to the feeder belt 20, as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,026, the feeder belt 20 is thus substantiallyparallel to the corresponding angled surface 10.

While the invention has been described in detail, it will be apparent toone skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can bemade and equivalents employed, without departing from the presentinvention. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothe details of construction, the arrangements of components, and/or thesteps of performing anastomosis set forth in the above description orillustrated in the drawings. Therefore, the invention is not to berestricted or limited except in accordance with the following claims andtheir legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical stapler, comprising: a staple holderincluding an upper surface, said upper surface comprising twosubstantially planar angled surfaces; a plurality of staple channelswithin said staple holder, wherein each of said staple channel opens toone of said angled surfaces; and a feeder belt comprises a loopextending into said staple holder, wherein a plurality of staplesfrangibly affixed to said feeder belt, wherein at least one of saidstaple is positioned within one of said staple channels.
 2. The surgicalstapler of claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of staplechannels lie in a first plane and at least another one of said pluralityof staple channels lie in a second plane.
 3. The surgical stapler ofclaim 2, wherein the first plane intersects with the second plane. 4.The surgical stapler of claim 1, wherein a substantially planar surfaceis deposed between said two substantially planar angled surfaces.
 5. Asurgical stapler, comprising: a staple holder including an uppersurface, said upper surface comprising two substantially planar angledsurfaces; a plurality of staple bays within said staple holder, whereineach of said staple bay opens to one of said angled surfaces; and afeeder belt comprises a bend extending into said staple holder, whereina plurality of staples frangibly affixed to said feeder belt, wherein atleast one of said staple is positioned within one of said staple bays.